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Daily Archives: February 22, 2009

—West Virginia will be one tough out in the NCAA Tournament. This team is extremely balanced, executes well and plays with a high basketball IQ. Exhibit A: 21 of their 27 buckets were assisted. Exhibit B: Their best player, Bloomfield Tech grad DaSean Butler, had just 10 points but knew he was cold and didn’t shoot the Mounties out of the game. He handed out four assists and took just 10 shots.

—When Rutgers cut what had been a 17-point deficit to four in the second half, Hamady N’Diaye committed two critical errors: He missed the front end of a one-and-one and then fumbled a defensive rebound that Devin Ebanks put back for two. Those plays were killers.

—Rutgers is now 7-9 at home and must beat both Providence and South Florida to avoid posting back-to-back losing records at home for the first time since 1950-51 and 1951-52, the only other time in program history that it’s happened. Further proof that the RAC’s mystique is all but gone: There were at least 1,000 West Virginia fans on hand. Speaking of the building, there was a nice halftime ceremony honoring former soccer great Lino DiCuollo and two others but I couldn’t hear it because the PA system is so bad.

—Corey Chandler shot 1-for-9 and committed four fouls. I’ve been asked numerous times whether he’ll be back next year and I don’t want to speculate—nobody knows the answer to that right now—but he’s either being grossly misused or he’s just plain out of it.

Four quotes from Rutgers:

Fred Hill on the plays that changed the game at 54-50: “We had a couple (rebounds) that were right in our hands and we didn’t come up with it, and those are big plays. We’re counting on us being able to get those rebounds. It ignites our fast break, gets us out running and gets us easy baskets.”

Hill, on why he kept fouling inside the final minute even though he was down double digits, a move that drew not a few boos: “We’re going to play right until the end. We’re going to keep playing. It prepares you for a game that maybe you’re down four and you have to foul. So you’re preparing for the next game.”

Bob Huggins, on allowing Mike Rosario just nine shots: “We just tried to limit his catches because he’s a really good offensive player. He’s going to score if he gets shots up.”

Anthony Farmer, asked if the team was improving: “It’s hard, looking at our record and what we’ve been though. But I think we’re getting better. We never quit. None of the teams I played on here quit. We never give up.”

Four thoughts on Seton Hall:

—We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: In end-game situations, it’s hard to trust Eugene Harvey. He made three critical errors down the stretch: bricking a layup, throwing a pass away that led to points for St. John’s, and chucking that wild 3-pointer when he thought a foul was being called (it should have been a foul on the floor, but there was no whistle, so why throw the ball up like that?) Jordan Theodore was cold with his shot but seems to have a much better basketball IQ. Going forward, I’d trust him with a game on the line. This team’s going to have a lot of talent next year, but that talent won’t achieve its potential without heady point guard play.

—We knew this was going to be St. John’s Super Bowl and their effort proved it (27 offensive rebounds). This was one of those ultra-physical games where the fouls racked up and the Hall’s lack of depth and size came back to bite them. It was an important win for embattled coach Norm Roberts. Anyone else get the feeling the Johnnies are going to keep scheduling the Hall for games in Queens?

—This game was equally vital for the Pirates. The loss puts a huge dent in their hopes for an NIT bid, which would be an important benchmark. They probably have to knock off Pitt or Louisville to make up for it.

—A HUGE thumbs-down to ESPN Regional Television (who produced the game on SNY), which didn’t post the game clock in the final minute of the second half. What is this, local access television? No lie, I was counting Mississippis in my head.

Two quotes from Queens:

Gonzo: I don’t think I’ve ever seen a team have 27 offensive rebounds. I think that was the difference in the game . . . They were playing volleyball on the glass.

Harvey on the non-foul call/crazy shot attempt: “I felt that he grabbed me, so I wanted to get a three-point shot up . . . When he grabbed me, I tried to throw it up. I tried to get fouled but they didn’t call a foul . . . I was very surprised actually, but the ref said he didn’t see it so I couldn’t fight with him so I had to deal with it.There’s three refs out there, I believe one has got to see it. But if they say they didn’t see it then they didn’t see it.”

While we’re at it, a quick 3-pointer from yesterday’s high school action:

1. Tip of the cap to Watchung Hills, which nearly defended Ridge right out of the Somerset County Tournament. In particular a fine job by Warriors senior Zach O’Brien. That was defending champ pride on display right there. Watchung will be a tough out in the state tournament.

2. Should we be worried about Plainfield? Our spies at the Dunn Center tell us the Cardinals were just awful offensively in the UCT quarters but managed to squeeze by Rahway thanks to solid efforts by unheralded big men Khalid Muhammad and Jabreel Elliot. No disrespect to Rahway, which has a tough team, but the Cardinals may not survive a performance like that as the competition rachets upward the next two weeks.

3. Other kudos: To Linden, which always plays well at this time of the year and knocked off Union yesterday; to Hunterdon Central and Voorhees, which took care of business to set up a fun rematch in Tuesday’s Hunterdon/Warren semifinals; and to South Hunterdon, which beat Bound Brook to give itself a chance for a share of the Skyland Conference Valley Division crown — what a turnaround for this formerly moribund program.

About the Author

Jerry Carino has covered sports for the Gannett New Jersey newspapers since 1996 and has been on the college basketball beat since 2003. A native of Old Bridge, he also teaches journalism at Kean University.Email Jerry.